Anheuser-Busch Gives Up, Accepts InBev's $70/Share and Horrible Name

After weeks of kicking, screaming and lawsuits, Budweiser's parent company decided Sunday night to sell itself to Belgian brewer InBev for roughly $52 billion, or $70 a share. Unfortunately, the company also agreed to the catastrophic combined-company name Anheuser-Busch InBev. (Do you want to drink a beer made by Anheuser-Busch InBev? We don't).

For all of the outcries about Anheuser-Busch's American heritage, in the end, the decision came down to money. Anheuser Busch's stock price has risen significantly since InBev's all cash offer was unveiled a month ago, and last Wednesday InBev upped its offer from $65 to $70 a share. And there's nothing more American than agreeing to a deal for cold, hard cash.

NYT: Anheuser-Busch agreed on Sunday night to sell itself to the Belgian brewer InBev for about $52 billion, people briefed on the matter said, putting control of the nation’s largest beer maker and a fixture of American culture into a European rival’s hands.

The all-cash deal, for $70 a share, would create the world’s largest brewer, uniting the maker of Budweiser and Michelob with the producer of Stella Artois, Bass and Brahma. Together, the two companies would have sales of more than $36 billion a year, surpassing the current No. 1 brewer, SABMiller of London.

The combined company is expected to be named Anheuser-Busch InBev, fulfilling a promise by the Belgian company to include the Anheuser name in the new brewer’s title, people briefed on the matter said. Anheuser will be given two seats on the board, including one for August A. Busch IV, the company’s chief executive and a scion of its controlling family.